In the field of networked communication and network transport devices, industry standards are evolving to support ever increasing data transport rates. For example, the IEEE 802.3 family of data link layer standards specify requirements for equipment for Ethernet LAN and WAN applications, and will support speeds faster than 10 gigabits per second (G) (e.g., 40 G and 100 G) over copper links and optical links. Moreover, the IEEE 802.3ba standard specifies 40/100 G interfaces based on parallel optical and copper links. Network equipment needs to interface and connect with each other to support these higher data transport rates.
Interface technologies known to accommodate connectivity of network equipment include, for example, the C-Form-Factor Pluggable (CFP) standard and the Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) standard. The CFP standard comprises ten 10 G channels or lanes in each direction that are transported in parallel, e.g., lanes that are similar to XFI or Serializer-Deserializer (SerDes) Framer Interface (SFI) lanes. Thus, a CFP transceiver may support multiples lanes of 10 G transport up to 100 G, e.g., one 100 G Ethernet (GE) or OTU4 signal, two 40 GE or two OTU3 signals, etc. When transported over an optical link via the CFP transceiver the signals are subject to optical dispersion, such as chromatic, modal, and Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD). When converted to electrical signals at the receive end, the dispersion may be partially compensated for using Electronic Dispersion Compensation (EDC). When transported over a copper link via the CFP transceiver the signals are subject to attenuation, crosstalk and noise interference. The degradation of the signal over the copper link is, in many ways, analogous to that experienced by optical signals.